Page 72 of Cruel Honor

“No. I just let her go.”

“You … let her go? Why? Because she couldn’t hold up to your impossibly high standards for women?”

“I don’t have high standards.”

“I know. I was being sarcastic. You’ll sleep with any woman who throws herself at you.”

“Well, Evie never threw herself at me.” I stare into golden brown liquid of my drink. “That’s why I liked her. She treated me differently. She didn’t bat her eyes at me. She scolded me. I liked it.”

Nik only shakes his head, but there’s a small smile on his lips.That’s the thing about Nikolai Petrov—he’s a hard man to make smile. I feel accomplished that I managed even that.

“But I let her go because of Abram. He keeps trying to kill her. Fucking bastard. Now, he’s in the wind. I need your help in finding him.”

“Killing him, you mean.”

“Obviously. What else would I mean?”

“I don’t want to get into a war, Dimitri. It’s why I agreed to go with you and Maxim to talk to Abram in the first place. I don’t want bloodshed. I’ve caused too much of it myself.”

“If we just kill Abram real quick, then no more blood need be shed.”

“What are you, fucking Edgar Allen Poe?”

“That’s more you. You’re so …” I wave my fingers at him. “Broody.”

Nik frowns deeper, proving my point.

“Help me kill Abram,” I say. “All of this can end, then.”

“If you can get Maxim on board, I’ll get on board.”

“Great.” I tap the table. “Um … there’s just one extra thing.”

“What?” he asks flatly.

“We also need to kill his daughter, Tatiana.”

“The one you fucked?”

“Yes.”

“No. I don’t kill women, Dimitri.”

“Well, I can kill her. You can just watch.” I flash him my most dashing smile, but it does nothing to him. Wrong crowd.

“No,” he growls. “I don’t participate in the killing of women. I have a code.”

I groan, dropping my head back. “That’s right. Your fucking code. Well, I have news for you. She drugged my wife and gave Evie to Abram. He then tried to kill her, but not before letting his men try to rape her.” Nik looks up sharply. “But I stopped it. I saved her. The point is, though, Tatiana has gone too far. She’s not a good woman. And she needs to die because of it.”

Nik runs a hand down his face, then sighs deeply. “You can kill her. I won’t. But I’ll help you catch her.”

“Great.” I extend my hand. “We have a deal?”

“I’m going to regret this, but … we have a deal.” He shakes my hand in return.

Once we’re done, I drive away from the bar … and straight to the New York Public Library. I know it’s irrational. I’m not going to find Evie.

She’s probably inside, hidden away somewhere. She deserves to find a man who’s also a little dorky like her. She doesn’t need a man like me in her life.

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